Trim strip and mounting therefor



April 2, 1957 J. H. KONEFES TRIM STRIP AND MOUNTING THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 29, 1953 Aprilz, 1957 J. H. KONEFES 2,787,035

I TRIM STRIP AND MOUNTING THEREFOR Original Filed June 29, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent TRIM STRIP AND MOUNTING THEREFOR Joseph H. Konefes, Libertyville, 111., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Amana Refrigeration, Inc., Amana, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Original application June 29, 1953, Serial No. 364,538. Divided and this application August 9, 1954, Serial No. 448,693 r i 6 Claims. (Cl. 20-74) This invention relates to an improved trim strip and mounting therefor, and is a division of my copending application Serial No. 364,538, filed June 29, 1953, now Patent No. 2,758,748.

More particularly this invention refers to a structure especially suitable for use in connection with containers such, for example, as the crisper drawers embodied in some types of refrigerator cabinets and has as one of its objects to provide a trim strip with a part serving as a handle to facilitate manipulation of such slidable containers.

It is another object of this invention to provide a trim strip and mounting structure wherein the trim strip is not only equipped with a part which will serve as a handle for drawers, but is also of a design enabling its use on a part or parts fixed adjacent the drawers to afford a matching design of pleasing appearance.

It is still another object of this invention to provide relatively simple means for securely fastening the trim strips to either or both the drawers and parts fixed adjacent to said drawers.

The foregoing as well as other objects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a trim strip and mounting structure showing the same applied to the crisper drawers and intervening support in a refrigerator cabinet;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the clip shown in Figure 3.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, the bottom portion of a refrigerator cabinet is shown with the usual door removed and the numeral 10 designates a pair of crisper drawers slidably supported within the refrigerator cabinet by a rail 11. The rail 11 extends between the drawers 10 and is secured to the bottom of the cabinet by an upright 12 having a front wall or panel 13 forming in effect a continuation of the front walls or panels 14 of the drawers when the latter are in their closed positions.

Each crisper drawer 10 has a trim strip 15 secured to the front wall 14 thereof and extruded or otherwise formed of plastic or any other specified material. In the present instance the strips 15 on the drawers 10 are identical and hence only one strip will be described in detail herein. The strip 15 is positioned at the front side of the wall 14 and is of sufficient length to extend from one side edge of the wall 14 to the opposite side edge of the latter. As shown in Figure 2, the strip 15 is transversely curved in a forward direction and is turned 2,787,035 Patented Apr. 2, 195.7

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laterally at the top to provide a rearwardly extending flange 16 which overlies the top edge of the front wall 14 of the drawer 10. The flange 16 is formed with laterally spaced depending ribs or projections 17 which extend for the full length of the flange 16 and respectively engage opposite sides of the front wall 14 of the drawer 10 to hold the top of the strip 15 in assembled relationship with the drawer.

The bottom of the strip 15 is offset laterally from the front wall 14 of the drawer 10 in a forward direction to provide a finger engaging piece or handle 18 rendering it possible for the user to readily manipulate the drawer. Projecting rearwardly from the portion of the trim strip 15 immediately above the handle 18 is an enlargement 19 which extends for the full length of the strip 15 and is formed with a rearwardly opening groove 20 therein. The groove 20 is coextensive with the enlargement 19 and forms a channel for receiving fastener elements in the form of spring metal speed nuts 21. The nuts 21 are transversely bowed and are struckout to provide stud engaging fingers 22.

The top and bottom edges of the nuts 21 respectively project into grooves 23 formed in the flanges 24 of the channel, and the rear edges of the flanges 24 are turned laterally inwardly with respect to the channel to form bearing flanges 25. The rear surfaces of the bearing flanges 25 abut the front surface of the wall 14 of the drawer 10 and the front surfaces of the bearing flanges engage the speed nuts 21 to retain the latter in assembled relationship with the groove 20 or channel in the trim strip 15. The grooves 23 extend for the full length of the flanges 24 and thespeed nuts 21 are installed in the groove or channel 20 from either end of the strip 15. The construction is such that the speed nuts 21 are slidable lengthwise of the groove 20 or channel in the strip 15 to enable readily registering the nuts with cooperating fastener elements in the form of studs 25' extending in a forward direction through holes formed in the front wall 14 of the drawer 10. The fingers 22 of the nuts 21 grip the shanks of the studs 25' to place the nuts under tension against the front surfaces of the flanges 25 and thereby clamp the rear surfaces of the flanges 25 to the wall 14 of the drawer 10.

In order to improve the appearance of the assembly when installed in a refrigerator cabinet, for example, a trim strip 26 is secured to the front face of the wall 13 of the upright 12. The trim strip 26 is identical to the strips 15 and, when the drawers 10 are in their closed positions, forms in effect a continuation of the trim strips 15. Since the trim strip 26 is identical in coristruction to the trim strips 15, the same reference characters are used to designate corresponding parts.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings the top of the trim strip 26 is mounted on the wall 13 of the upright 12 in the same manner previously described for mounting the trim strips 15 on the front Walls 14 of the drawers 10. However, the enlargement 19 on the trim strip 26 adjacent the offset portion 18 is clamped to the wall 13 of the upright 12 by a pair of spring metal U- shaped clips 27 having a base part 28 and legs 29. The clips 27 respectively straddle opposite side edges of the wall 13 and the front legs 29 of the clips project into opposite ends of the channel or groove 20 in the enlargement 19. More particularly the front legs 29 of the clips 27 extend into the grooves 23 in the flanges 24 and respectively engage the front surfaces of the bearing flanges 25. The rear legs 29 on the U-shaped clips 27 engage the adjacent rear surface of the wall 13 of the upright 12 and cooperate with the front legs to securely clamp the trim strip 26 to the wall 13. As shown in Figure 6 of the drawings the inner end of the rear leg 29 of the clip is tapered rearwardly to serve as a pilot for guiding the clip in assembled relationship with the upright. member. 12. In order to assure. securely fastening the trim strip 26 in place, therrear leg 29 of each clip 27 has a struck out lug 30 that has a biting engagement with, the. wall 13' of 1 the. upright. 12;

It follows; from the. foregoing that the trim strips not only impart a neat andpleasing appearance to structures of the type? disclosed herein but, inaddition, provide a handleor. grip capable of being conveniently'engagedby the user to manipulate containers such as the crisper drawers of a refrigerator. It is also apparent from the above that the trim strips are readily and securely attached to adjacent supporting'structure in a manner such that: the fastening elements are concealed from view.

What I- claim as my invention is:

1. A trim strip and mounting therefor comprising an upright member, a trim strip extending along the front side of: the member andhaving apart bearing against said member, said parthaving a recess extending lengthwise of the strip from one end to the other of the latter i and said recess having opposed front and rear walls, means for securing the strip to the upright member including a substantially U-shapedclip straddling one edge of themember with the rear leg yieldably engaging the rear side of the member and with the front legprojecting into the adjacent end of the recess between said walls and yieldably engageable with the rear wall of the'recess in opposed relationship to the said rear leg for clamping the. strip to the-upright member.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein the bearing part and recess therein are located adjacent the bottom edge of the trim strip and wherein the top of the trim strip has a flange which projects rearwardly in overlying relationship to the top of the upright member, and projections depending from the flange at opposite sides of the upright member to cooperate with one another to hold the top of the trim strip in assembled relationship with the upright member.

3. A trim strip and mounting therefor comprising an upright member of predetermined width, a trim strip having a length corresponding to the width of the upright member and having a part adjacent the bottom of the strip extending for the full length of the strip at the rear side of said strip for hearing engagement with the front side of the upright member, said part having a recess extending from one end to the other of the strip and said recess having front and rear walls, spring metal U- shaped clips respectively straddling the opposite vertical edges of the upright member with the rear legs respectively yieldably engaging the rear side of the member and with the front legs projecting into the adjacent ends of the recess between the walls aforesaid of the recess and yieldably engageable with the rear wall of said recess in opposed relationship to the rear legs for clamping the strip to the upright member.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 comprising a flange extending rearwardlyfrom the top of the trim strip in overlying relationship to the top edge of the upright member, and having laterally spaced projections extending downwardly from the flange at opposite sides of the upright member to hold the top of the trim strip in place on the upright member.

5. In combination, an upright havingtan-upright wall portion, and a horizontally extending elongated trim strip upon the front of said upright wall portion, said strip being provided at its upper edgerwith a rearwardly extending flange overlying the upper edge of said upright Wall portion and provided below said'flange Witha rearwardly 6. Incombination, an upright having an upright wall portion, and a horizontally extending elongated trim strip uponthe front of said upright wall-portion, said strip being provided at its upper edge with a rearwardly extendingflange overlying the upper edge of said upright wall portion and provided below said flange with a rearwardly projecting enlargement engaging the forward'surface of said'upright'wallportion, said flange having a depending rib engaging the rear side of said' upright Wall portion at the upper edge thereof, said enlargement having openings in opposite ends thereof, and means for clamping said enlargement against the forward surface of said upright wall portion to hold the rib aforesaid against displacement from the rear side of said upright well, including two substantially U-shaped clips straddling opposite upright edges of said wall portion, one leg of each U-shaped clip extending into'an opening aforesaid in said enlargement, the other leg of eachclip overlying the rear surface of said wall portion.

References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 944,022 Eken Dec. 21, 1909 2,133,837 Wiley Oct. 18, 1938 2,150,497 Fernberg Mar. 14, 1939 2,531,348. Amesbury Nov. 21, 1950 2,596,780 Meyers et a1. May 13, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 619,028 Great Britain Mar. 2, 1949 

